RE: Teaching soft skills

["Gibson, Eric" <egibson@dsrnet.com>]

Hal Pomeranz writes:
>> 
>> Do people generally agree that the person has to be born with a
>> customer service attitude and some of the other skills I mentioned?
>> Has anybody had success in instilling these qualities in somebody, and
>> if so when in their development did you do it (childhood, grade
>> school, college, in the workplace)?

Joe Yao responds:
> It should be instilled in childhood.  But it can be instilled later in
> life.  It has to be a fundamental acceptance, though, rather than a
> veneer.
> 

[Getting on soapbox...]
This is something I've felt for years -- at least as long as I've been
in systems administration (14 now).  It really must be part of one's
character to be a truly good service-oriented person.  This is true
for any customer service position, not just systems administration.
The axiom, "The customer must come first and is always right" has to
be a way of life for the service person, be s/he a waiter, flight
attendant, McDonald's employee, or even the trash collector in your
office.

It is difficult to teach this to someone who is new to the service
profession unless s/he has been brought up with certain "golden rule"
values.  I wish I could take some of the kids who work in retail and
shake this concept into them.  Or at least the notion that they need
to make their bosses happy.  Persuing that, they will find that the
only way to do that is to make their customers happy.

What it all comes down to is the notion that without our customers,
there's no us.  This must be at the root of all we do.

[Climbing down from soapbox, going home]
________________________________________________________________________________
Eric Gibson                       
Sr. System Administrator                     703.263.2851 [voice]
Digital System Resources, Inc.               703.263.2802 [fax]
(A Defense Contractor)                       egibson@dsrnet.com
12450 Fair Lakes Circle
Suite 500
Fairfax, VA 22033
 
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